Second Chances
by crazileigh
Summary: Josh Lyman thought his one chance at being a father was destroyed on November 14, 1994. Now, he wants another chance with a girl named Liz. But has she lost too much to give him one?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One 

April 17, 1998:

            Joshua Lyman hung up the phone with a sense of trepidation. Well, trepidation and excitement, but mostly trepidation. A girl, he thought to himself. I know absolutely nothing about girls. Well, actually, I do, but not 10-year-olds. He glanced at the calendar. Only 14 days, he thought. Might as well get ready. 

            He picked up the phone and dialed a number he knew by heart. "Dad? It's me. I just got off the phone with St. Anne's. You know, the children's shelter… Yeah, well, I'm going to take in another one. It's a girl. She's ten…Elizabeth Webster. They say she's really smart… Her parents abandoned her when she was six. No, she's never had a permanent foster home…14 days, on the 31st. Yeah, I know. Don't worry, I couldn't help that… Yeah, tell Mom for me will you? She won't think I'll be able to take another one. Thanks, Dad.

"NO!" Liz shrieked. "No, I'm not going!"

            "Liz, honey, listen, you may never have another chance." soothed Ms. Gold, Liz's social worker.

            "What's the point, he'll give me back anyway!"

            "You don't know that, Liz. He wanted to take you."

            "That's 'cause he never had an interview with me. No one likes me once they have an interview." Liz snapped.

            Ms. Gold glared at the girl. "Well, you never give anyone a chance. Honest to God, girl, you _drive_ them all away."

            "No one would ever want me, so why do you want them to take me just to give me back? _I'm not going_!"

            "Elizabeth Anna Webster! You are far too old to throw a temper tantrum. You are going to live with Mr. Lyman on the 31st and that's final!"

            Liz raced out of the room, ran up the stairs two at a time, entered the girls' bedroom, flopped down on her bed and began to cry her eyes out. When the other girls looked up from what they were doing, she glared at them, as though daring them to ask what was wrong, and they quickly resumed their activities. The quiet, yet quick-tempered girl had no close friends at St. Anne's, since her arrival there four years ago, with her parents taking her there while she slept peacefully, abandoning her on the front steps for a startled newspaper delivery boy to find her the next morning. Her parents had made no effort to contact her, and the unsuccessful two-month search was quickly abandoned by the police when it was made clear that no one knew of their whereabouts. Liz refused all active efforts to place her in a foster home, as she now saw herself as unlovable. All the constant interviews with the police and social workers made it even more clear to Liz that her parents didn't want her, as there had been no fights, arguments, or disagreements preceding her abandonment. 

            Liz didn't show up for dinner that night, and instead went to bed early, dreaming of her previously happy family, now shattered. Little did she know that across town, Joshua Lyman was dreaming of the same thing.

            Josh fitfully tossed and turned in his sleep. "No, please, it wasn't my fault. I'm sorry," he mumbled as he turned over. 

            _"Josh! Josh, where are you?" squeaked a little voice._

_            "I'm right here, don't worry!" Josh carefully reassured him._

_            "Josh, I'm scared. I can't feel my legs," the voice sobbed._

_            "Don't worry. Nothing's going to happen to you. Everything's going to be OK. I promise."_

_            "Where are you? Josh, help me!" _

            "AAHHH!" Josh woke up in a cold sweat. He gasped for air as he turned on the lamp beside his bed. A voice, sounding strangly like his own whispered, "Josh, what have you done?"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two 

Sorry the last chapter was so short! I promise I'll make the rest of them longer. Also, I ask you to suspend your disbelief, because I know that Bartlet's campaign was in New Hampshire, not Washington. So work with me here. 

And thank you to the two people who reviewed my story! 

Disclaimer: I forgot this last time. I don't own them, but I'm waiting for a phone call from Aaron Sorkin telling me he needs to use my wonderful writing skills to fix this great mess he made with letting Rob Lowe and Emily Procter go.

April 31, 1998:

            Liz was sitting on the small bench with a cardboard box, a duffel bag, and her backpack. Her mouse brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and the expression on her face conveyed her obviously displeasure at leaving. Josh entered through the front door and glanced at her, waiting calmly by the door. She stoutly met his eyes, and he quickly looked away. 

            Liz squeezed her eyes shut and thought furiously, 'please let that not be him, please let that not be him.'

            Ms. Gold came into the room. "Ahhhh, Mr. Lyman!" Liz opened her eyes in defeat. "So nice of you to come."

            "What, was I not going to come?" In spite of herself, Liz grinned at his comment.

            "Oh, no, of course not, I meant…" she trailed off.

            "OK," Josh replied calmly, not letting her finish. "Where is she?" Liz scowled slightly at being called 'she.'

            "Oh, yes." She indicated Liz. "This is Elizabeth Anna Webster. You've filled out all her paperwork?"

            "Yes, and I have the medical information you wanted."

            "Good," Ms. Gold cheerfully chirped. "Come on in here so we can fill that part out." Josh followed her and Liz followed him with her eyes.

            Moments later he returned to the hallway alone and smiled at her. "I gave her the information and I'm letting her fill out the forms. She'll get a taste at how long it takes to fill those things out." 

Liz simply raised her eyebrows at the feeble joke. "Do I call you Mr. Lyman?"

"Please don't. Call me Josh."

"You can call me Liz. I hate Elizabeth."

"Really? I think it's a nice name. It's better than Joshua."

"Well, do you have a middle name?" Liz demanded.

"No."

"They stink. As if Elizabeth Webster isn't enough of a mouthful, they have to add Anna in the middle. That's eight syllables they can drag out if they're mad at me."

"You actually counted them?" Josh asked incredulously.

"Yep."

Ms. Gold emerged from the room. "All the forms are done, so you two can be on your way. Liz, honey, be good."

Liz made absolutely no indication of any emotion she might have been feeling. "Sure." As they left, Josh swore he heard Liz mutter, "do _not_ call me honey."

---

Uncomfortable silence filled the car ride home. Finally, Josh cleared his throat. "I don't want to seem like the overprotecting guardian-" Liz noticed he carefully said 'guardian' "-but I just want to sent down a few rules." He looked at her narrowly. "Don't do anything you wouldn't want Ms. Gold knowing about." For the second time that day, Liz grinned. "After school everyday, you can come to my office, or go home. If you choose to home, I want you to call my office at 4:00 to tell me you've gotten home. If you want to go to a friend's house, you call me to ask me first."

Liz raised her eyebrows. "Have you practiced this talk or something?"

"No, but I had a foster kid once."

"Really?"

"Yeah, an eight-year-old boy." 

Liz got the message that he didn't want to talk about it. "So I can come to your office? To do my homework?"

"Yeah, you want to?"

"Depends, where do you work?"

"I work for Bartlet for America."

"Really?" Liz asked with a huge smile. "Do you actually work with him?"

"Yeah, I'm the Senior Political Director." 

"Cool, I'll come there."                     

"OK, I'll pick you up after school and bring you there so you can see the way."

"Great."

---

            Liz began unpacking soon after she got to Josh's apartment, mainly so she could be alone in her room. She glanced around. Her room. She hadn't had her own room for four years. Her new room was small, and slightly bare. The walls were painted soft, light blue, and she had a bed, a desk, shelves, all hers. The bathroom was right down the hall. Mr. Lyman (she still wasn't prepared to call him Josh) had his own bathroom in his room. Her own bathroom! She shook her head to clear it. Get a grip, Liz! You aren't staying very long.

            She finished stacking her small collection of books on the shelves, as she listened to Josh making dinner. Now the only thing that was left in her duffel bag was a small stuffed dog. It was old and ratty, and its brown fur had faded. It didn't have a name. She glanced over at her bed, and then placed the dog back in her duffel bag. "Sorry I have to keep you in here, but we aren't staying very long, so we better be prepared to leave when we have to." Saying the words out loud made her even more convinced to believe them. Why would anyone ever want to be _her_ parent? After all, her birth parents just up and left. There had to be something wrong with her. 

            Josh finished making the KraftTM Macaroni and Cheese and carefully put helpings on two plates, trying not to burn or break things, which tended to happen if he was thinking about something important while he cooked. Liz seemed to be a real distant kid, but there was no surprise there. The happiest Liz seemed to be was when he told her that he worked for Governor Bartlet. But, any kid would probably be that way if they found out that their foster parent worked for a presidential candidate. So he'd take her there tomorrow and introduce her to everyone, and maybe, if Governor Bartlet was in a good mood, he thought, he could take Liz to meet him too. That decided, he took the plates to the table and called Liz down for dinner.

I realize that this chapter really wasn't as good as it could have been. Sorry! But it's gonna get better when it gets West Wing-ish. But review! 'Cause when people review it makes me feel like people are reading it and I write faster. So review! 

--Anna K


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three 

Third chapter everyone! Now it's going to get very West Wing, so you can read about the good stuff, and not deal with the angst that all my characters have. And, guess what would make me really happy…reviews! Yay!

Sorry it took so long, but I had midterms, and then there was Christmas, and then I was away for New Year's.

Also, some people might be confused- this takes place during the first campaign, and Bartlet isn't President yet. Just to clear that up.

Disclaimer: don't own them, except for Liz, who is completely mine.

            "So, is it really hectic in there?"

            Josh looked up, startled slightly by Liz's question, as it had seemed that they had now adopted a practice of dealing with as little conversation as possible in the car. "Well, it depends on what's going on. When I left, there weren't any scandals that needed to be dealt with and we weren't very ahead or behind in the polls, so I think we can count on today being pretty normal."

            "What about when it's not normal?" 

            "Then we have to run around and fix whatever needs to be fixed."

            "Is Bartlet going to win?"

            Josh was even more startled by this question. "I don't know." He paused. "Do you think he should win?"

            "Yeah, he's got…what's the word…charisma! Like John F. Kennedy."

            Josh grinned. "I'm going to tell him you said that. Or better yet, you can tell him yourself."

            Liz's eyes widened. "You mean I get to meet him?"

            "Yeah, that's pretty much the only way you could tell him that yourself, right?" Josh grinned.

            Liz silently sank down in her seat as Josh wondered if that was the right thing to say. Don't worry, Josh! he silently berated himself. She's just nervous, like any sane 10-year-old who's about to meet a presidential candidate. 

They pulled up into Josh's parking space and got out of the car. Liz looked around at the small building. Josh watched her for a moment. "Looking at it isn't going to do any good. Come on!" He headed inside, and, after a moment, Liz followed him.

Inside, Donna rushed up to him. "Josh, Toby got a head's up that Senator Milford is against the Social Security Bill." 

Josh immediately headed toward Leo's office, then turned back to Liz. "Liz, this is my assistant, Donna. Donna, this is Liz. I've got to go."

"What's going on?" asked Liz.

"Today stopped being normal," Josh replied as he left.

Liz turned toward Donna. "Hey, Liz," Donna said cheerfully. Liz nodded curtly. "Josh said you're going to do your homework?"

"Uh huh," Liz replied, looking around.

"Ok, well, go on into his office, he'll probably be at a lot of meetings for the rest of the day, so you'll be able to concentrate here." 

Liz nodded again. She considered saying thanks, but decided against it. She wasn't sure she liked this incredibly cheerful person. Plopping down in a chair, she pulled out her science notebook.

---

Liz had finished her science and was moving on to her history homework, when the door opened and a young man rushed in. "Josh-" he began, the stopped when he realized he wasn't there. Then he noticed Liz, and if he saw the angry glare on her face, he ignored it. "Hi, you must be Elizabeth."

Liz didn't reply right away, and took a long moment analyzing him before she answered, "Call me Liz."

"Ok," replied the young man with a goofy grin. "I'm Sam Seaborn." He offered his hand to her, and she shook it. "So, do you know where Josh-" Josh came into the room. "Oh, hey Josh. I was looking for you."

Josh nodded at Sam. "Did you meet Liz?"

"Oh, yes, we've met," Sam replied, smiling at her. The look on Liz's face could have been a smile, but it disappeared quickly, as Liz reminded herself that she would soon be leaving.

Sam turned his attention back to Josh, "CJ's about to do her thing, you gonna watch it?"

Josh nodded, then he had an idea. "Hey Liz, you want to see a press briefing?"

"Sure," Liz replied, this time allowing a true smile.

By the time they got to the press room, the briefing had started. Liz gently tugged on Josh's sleeve. "Who's that?"

"That's CJ Cregg, the press secretary." Liz nodded and didn't ask any more questions. 

Toward the end of the conference, a reporter began to ask CJ a question, and Liz noticed Josh and Sam begin to squirm. She focused on what the reporter was asking: "Governor Bartlet says he's in favor of the bill that's about to be voted on that will complicate social security, while Senator Milford says he's against it, and the Senator says he wants to make social security simple for the average person. Does Governor Bartlet have a comment?

"No, Danny, he doesn't. You know why? 'Cause we really aren't going to comment on the Senator's campaign strategy. You want to know about that, ask Senator Milford." She finished the briefing and left the room, while Josh and Sam quickly followed her, and Liz tagged along.

Josh waited until they were a good distance from the room before speaking. "You walked right into it."

"There was no other direction to walk, it was Danny."

"We're going to have to come up with a comment, some reason that complex social security is good," Sam said. 

The three of them began talking/arguing right in the middle of the hall. Watching them, Liz got the idea that they did this often. Suddenly an idea struck her, and before her saner self could get her other half under control she piped up, "Couldn't…" 

Josh, Sam and CJ turned at the sound of her squeaking a word out. Seeing that she had their attention, and knowing that there was no going back, she continued, "Couldn't you say that complicated is better, that way you close the loopholes, and no one gets ripped off?" No one said anything. "Or maybe not," she muttered softly. Great, she thought. Me and my big mouth. Now they're going to think I'm so stupid. I should just get back and start packing-

"I think that's a great idea," Sam said abruptly.

Liz blinked, thinking she hadn't heard him right, and figured she ought to gracefully clarify it: "What?"

"That's a perfect response. Complicated better, closing the loopholes, that makes absolute sense. It's great."

CJ noticed that Liz seemed very surprised by this response. She looked over at Josh. "Well, Josh, it looks like you've got a budding political genius on your hands." She reached over and squeezed Liz's shoulder but kept talking to Josh: "Why don't you go tell Mr. Bartlet about his comment on Senator Milford's statement." Josh left.

Liz blushed, feeling incredibly pleased. Then she quickly shook her head to clear it. This had to be a mistake. These people work for a man who is running for President. How come they didn't think about it themselves? her reasonable, street-smart self demanded her other half that was enjoying this praise. Her other half didn't have an answer.

CJ gently shook Liz's shoulder to get her attention. Liz found herself bending her neck to look at the incredibly tall woman. "Hi, Elizabeth, I don't believe we've actually met. I'm CJ Cregg."

Liz gave CJ the same response she had given when she met Sam: "Call me Liz." Thinking she ought to say something else she added, "You look very tall from down here."

CJ chuckled. "Thank you, I think."

Josh appeared again. "The Governor is incredibly excited about his statement, and Toby's working on the language right now." CJ nodded her approval, and Josh turned his attention back to Liz. "And he's also anxious to meet the little mastermind behind the whole thing."

Liz gulped. "Really, that's ok. I mean, I'm sure he's really busy and I haven't finished my homework…" Stop babbling! she ordered herself sternly. That doesn't do any good! She had begun backing away from Josh and CJ while talking. "I'm just going to go finished my homework," she added, and fled.

---

            About five minutes later, Liz realized she was hopelessly lost. This place really doesn't look that big from the outside, she mused. She hadn't seen one person she knew. A stuffy-looking bald man with a beard passed by, and, when Liz looked where he was headed, she saw Josh coming in the other direction. Screw that thought, she thought desperately as she looked for somewhere to hide.

            "Toby." Josh stopped the bald man. "Have you seen a ten-year-old girl walking around here?" Liz spotted a door nearby and carefully snuck towards it. 

            "No, I haven't. I really don't spend my time looking for ten-year-old girls in the Bartlet campaign headquarters."

            Liz yanked open the door, hurried inside and shut it, silently thanking the bald man for not paying attention. Taking a deep breath, she looked around the room. It was dimly lit, and reminded her of the study her father had once had. Books lined the shelves around and behind an enormous wooden desk. The desk itself was covered with papers and a few framed pictures. One comfy-looking leather chair was behind the desk, while two had been placed in front of the desk, facing it. Off to the side of the room was a small table, with a chessboard set up on it. Slowly, she walked over to it and picked up one of the pieces, carefully examining it.

            "Who's there?" a voice demanded, entering a room from another door Liz had overlooked. 

Liz quickly put the piece back and her eyes widened when she saw who it was. "I…I…"

Governor Bartlet grinned. "You must be Liz." Wordlessly, Liz nodded. He casually walked over to his desk and began to straighten some papers. "CJ said you had freaked out and weren't coming to meet me."

"I got lost," Liz offered by a way of explanation. She surprised herself at her ability to form coherent sentences.

He nodded. "Do you play?" he asked, gesturing to the chessboard. Liz shook her head. "Ah, it's a great game. It was invented in India, did you know that?" Liz shook her head again.

"I wouldn't tell him that if I were you," said another man who had just entered the room. "You need to tell him you know everything about chess, otherwise he'll give you the whole history of chess and whatnot." Liz nodded. 

"This is Liz," called Jed from the desk. "She's the kid who came up with the great response to Milford."

"Yes, I knew that," replied the other man. "I'm Leo McGarry. I'm the campaign manager." He held out his hand to her, and Liz, finally finding her voice again, shook it.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. McGarry."

"Please, call me Leo." Seeing the look of hesitation on her face, he added, "And if you don't, I'll call you Elizabeth." 

Slowly, Liz nodded to show she understood. Stop just moving your head and say something! she ordered herself. Unfortunately, the next thing out of her mouth was not particularly what she had in mind: "This is a _very_ strange place." 

"How so?" asked Jed, trying to suppress a grin.

"Big political strategists being impressed with a ten-year-old's idea, governors who don't get mad when they find random people in their office, campaign managers who tell you to call them by their first name…"

Jed walked over to where Liz was still standing by the chessboard. "If you like, I can teach you to play sometime."

Liz's weird, spur-of-the-moment self was overjoyed at the prospect, yet her sane, street-smart self was telling her that it wouldn't matter, he'd probably forget her by tomorrow, and she'd be leaving soon anyway. But she still found herself saying, "Are you serious? That'd be so cool."

Jed chuckled. "Ok, do you want to start now?"

Liz was about to say yes, then she remembered something. "I still have some homework to do."

Jed nodded. "Ok, well, if you want any help with that, I can help you."

"And I _really_ wouldn't do that if I were you," Leo called from the other side of the room. "What?" he demanded when Jed glared at him. "I distinctly remember Zoey once coming to you for help on her math homework, when she was in fourth grade, and you ended up talking about the trigonometric ratios." 

Jed scowled at him. "Remind me again why you're my campaign manager."

Leo grinned. "Cause I'm the one who convince you to run."

"Right." Liz was amused at how easily they bantered with each other, and tried to stifle a grin. Silently, she wished she had a friend like that. Most of the girls at St. Anne's ignored her, and her friends at school promptly ignored her as well when they noticed how much she had changed. What and I saying? she asked herself. I got on just fine up 'til now. I don't need friends to banter with; I have adults at the shelter to argue with.

The door opened and CJ walked in. "Governor, we're going to add a day on to the trip to-" she stopped short when she saw Liz standing in the room.

"Hey CJ, look who Leo and I met," Jed indicated Liz, who grinned sheepishly.

CJ nodded in understanding. "Well, Josh has been looking for you for about ten minutes. Something about homework?"

"Right!" Liz jumped up, remembering. "I almost forgot. I gotta go. It was nice to meet you, Mr. Bartlet, Mr. McGarry," she added, hurrying toward the door. She left the room so quickly that she didn't hear Jed remind her to stop by again.

In the hallway, she managed to find her way back to Josh's office. Donna looked up as she approached. "Hey Liz, how you doing?"

"Ok," Liz replied. As she went back into Josh's office, she muttered, "I've been having a slightly weird day." Looking back toward the hustle out in the hall, she added, "But I'm sure I'll get used to it."

Thanks to everyone who reviewed!

DC Darling- don't worry, KJ, I'm gonna put you in it, but not until later. Like in the sequel or something. MWAHAHAH!

Jenny- this is probably going to be more from Liz's point of view, so not much of Josh during the campaign. There'll probably be more of Josh's POV once Liz gets to trusting him.

Indus- I'm definitely going to continue it, don't worry!


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four 

Sorry for the delay. My computer has had some serious issues, but hopefully its not going to be screwing up again for a while. Kudos to all my great reviewers, I love you guys!

Disclaimer: Still don't own them. Sigh. I'm not really sure who does now that Sorkin left, but it's definitely not me.

------

"Knight to E5," Liz announced as she carefully placed the little white horse head on the square.

Jed looked up from his desk. "And I honestly didn't think you could take any longer to move after your last one," he teased. "I went over and signed three important things while you were thinking."

"What were they about?" asked Liz, who recently began taking every opportunity to learn something new.

"I really couldn't tell you," he replied. He strode over to the chessboard, scanned it momentarily, and then announced, "Rook to H3." He placed the piece on the board and returned to his desk, while Liz once again began analyzing the board. A few minutes passed in complete silence until Jed, without looking up from his papers murmured, "Take your time. See the whole board."

"You know, sir," began Liz, "from the few times I've played with you I've noticed that every time you say that I know I'm going to lose the in the next two or three moves."

"Yeah," replied Jed, still slightly preoccupied.

"So, I'm just supposed to sit here an figure out _how_ I'm gonna lose?"

"Yeah."

Liz sighed, returning her attention to the board. "How reassuring."

There was a knock at the door, and, without waiting for a reply, Leo, Josh, Toby, Sam and CJ came into the office. "Don't mind her," Jed told them, gesturing toward Liz. "She's learning how she's gonna lose."

Liz half-listened in on the meeting and half-paid attention to the chessboard. It had been three weeks since her first meeting with Jed Bartlet, and now she had adopted a routine. After school, she took the bus down to the campaign headquarters, and generally had her homework completed within the hour. For the rest of the time she hung around, listened in on impromptu meetings and watched CJ's press briefings, acquiring quite a bit of respect for nearly every member of the senior staff. She remained isolated at school, so she didn't have anyone to brag to about Josh's position. It wouldn't matter—most of her school was Republican anyway. Jed usually didn't have meetings after six, so it was then she reported to his office for a chess lesson, which was usually accompanied by a lesson on Latin, or the crop cycles of Nebraska, or whatever. Liz pretended to have as little interest as the rest of staff in these things, but in truth she found them slightly fascinating, and she could always scare most of her fourth grade class when she brought such things up during class discussions. The current meeting concerned the Illinois primary, which was tomorrow. Most of the things they were discussing were things Liz had already heard, so she turned her full attention back to the chess game.

As the meeting ended, and Liz knew she would be leaving soon, she carefully moved a piece she figured would protect her king, at least for a while. Wrong idea. Jed slid his bishop forward, announced "checkmate," and gave her a cocky smile.

She calmly replied, "good game." She still was nowhere near comfortable teasing him the way he teased her.

"You're going to see your first considerably hectic day tomorrow," Jed remarked as he wandered back over to his desk and Liz began to straighten up the chessboard. "Though I suppose your first day could come pretty close."

"I know. I'm trying to get Josh to let me stay home from school tomorrow." She finally started calling him Josh, since he had taken Leo's strategy and began calling her Elizabeth. For all intents and purposes, it worked.

"And that just isn't happening," Josh added, while still buried in his papers so he couldn't see her scowl.

"And I somehow find myself agreeing with Tom," Jed added while busying about the room doing God knows what. Leo gave him an appalling look, and there was total silence until Jed caught on a few moments later. "Your name isn't Tom, is it?" he asked, looking at Josh.

"No," Josh said calmly, as if this was nothing out of the ordinary.

 And it wasn't. In the past three weeks Liz had observed Jed Bartlet's inability to remember names. Or so he claimed. He had always remembered hers with ease, but dictated that he only forgot the names of his staffers because there were so many of them who all did the same thing. "What's the point of trying to learn the names of all these campaign people who are going to leave as soon as I lose?" His remark had been lighthearted, but it reminded Liz that this situation was only temporary.

"His name is Josh," she reminded Jed after the others had left the room.

He looked up, startled out of his reverie. "Oh, right."

Liz frowned at his indifference. How was it possible that a man that Josh and Leo praised daily could be so indifferent to the people who were really going to make him great? "Good luck tomorrow," she called as she headed for the door.

"Thanks, but its not going to happen," he called with a wry smile.

"Sure it will. You got New Hampshire," Liz reminded him as she always did whenever he got on the idea that he was "not worthy" or whatever.

"Yes, but as Leo constantly points out, my family founded the state."

Liz shook her head. "See you tomorrow."

------

Liz scrambled out the door of her elementary school and sprinted toward the bus stop. Despite whatever misgivings she might have about Jed Bartlet, he had just won the Illinois primary, so off to the Bartlet for America headquarters she would go.

"Liz." A car pulled up beside her, and it only took Liz a moment to realize that it was Josh in the front seat with a grim look on his face.

Liz stepped off the curb and got in. "What's up?" He didn't reply for a moment. "We won, didn't we? Or was today not a normal day?" she added, allowing herself a small smile at their running joke.

Josh didn't laugh though. "Listen, I'm going to have to have you stay at the shelter for a few days. I have to go up to Connecticut."

She started to put two and two together at his grim look and the revelation that he was going to his family home. "Josh, what's up?"

"My father died."

One would think that Liz would know exactly how to reply to such a statement, what with her own experience and the living with a bunch of kids who had almost all lost at least one parent for four years. But the knowledge that absolutely nothing could be said to make him feel better changed her mind, and she simply settled for an "I'm so sorry."

The other thing that he had told her started to impact her as well, and she looked up at him. "So I'm going to the shelter?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I packed some stuff for you, but it should only be for two or three days." He stopped at a red light and turned to look at her. "I'm really sorry about leaving you like this. I just didn't think a funeral was a good time…"

"Yeah," Liz nodded eagerly. "I get it. You're right."

They pulled up to the St. Anne's Children Shelter, and Josh got her suitcase out of the back. Once they got her all settled in, he turned to look at her, and Liz saw for the first time how hard it must be for him to be holding it together. Just for her. He paused, looking bewildered for a moment, then leaned down to give her a quick, awkward hug. "Thanks, kiddo. I'll see you in a couple days?"

Still reeling from the sudden display of affection, she nodded, and with that he was gone. She couldn't help but stare after him, wondering about the hug and why he did it, and thinking maybe, just maybe…

"Liz! Back already?" A voice taunted from behind her, and she turned around to glare at the boy down the hall.

"Eat slugs, Jim! It's just for a few days!" she shot back.

Jim merely laughed. "Rejected huh? It's ok, nothin' to be ashamed off. Everyone is. Getting' your hopes up, kid?" he snickered, dancing down the hall.

Liz was silent for a moment. Jim's barb had brought her back to reality. He had hugged her because he felt guilty.

------

An hour or so later, Liz was watching CNN in one of the rooms. "Governor Bartlet's victory today has nearly sealed his candidacy over John Hoynes. It won't be a question over who's going to be accepting the nomination this summer…" She glanced away from the TV has she heard a bunch of cars pull up. Thinking nothing of it, she turned her attention back to the TV until Molly, the woman in charge of the kids, came in. "Liz, some people are here." Rolling her eyes, she got up and walked out of the room, only to find several people, among them…

"Governor Bartlet! Leo! What are you doing here?" she asked, unable to keep the grin off her face as she notice the looks of disbelief on the other kids' faces.

"Oh, just stopping by on the way somewhere. We figured we were going to miss you for the next couple of days so we just wanted to check up on our favorite preteen." Liz smiled happily. They came? They came for her?

"Yeah, without you around he's just going to be bugging the rest of us more," Leo added as he reached down and tousled her hair affectionately.

After doing the traditional hand-shaking, speech-giving, charisma-emitting stuff, Governor Bartlet called Liz over and leaned down to tell her, "Listen, this was kind of sudden for Josh, and I'm sure you aren't sure how to act around him, so just, you know, be natural. Keep him grounded and make sure he doesn't bury himself in his work." He waited until she nodded before continuing, "He'll be fine." Pausing he then added, "You were right. I guess I'm not too bad at this. I'll need him around pretty soon. And I don't plan on forgetting his name anymore." Liz nodded, and kept nodding even as he walked away. The irrational part of her fought the urge to cry. 'He needs _Josh_ around,' she thought. 'Not me.'

'Surprise, surprise,' she reminded herself. 'What else is new?' Walking back to her room, she resolved not to over analyze anymore, nor to see things for more than what they were. 'I'm leaving at some point. I'm just going to make the best of the situation. I don't know, maybe even learn something.'

Nevertheless, for the first time in four years, she allowed a small ray of hope to envelop her, that maybe, just maybe, the world was not out to get her.

"Governor!" she called, before she could stop herself. Suddenly, she ordered the wary part of herself to shut the hell up, and called, without stuttering, "Go kick some butt."

He grinned. "You just wait 'til the convention."

The brief, and somewhat politically motivated visit (nothing says compassion in political leaders than visiting underprivileged children), was still an incredible boost for her substitute for a social life at the children's shelter.  The looks she received from the other kids suddenly boosted her a tad higher in whatever social structure that they had going on there. She started to get the feeling that she was different, she was special, that she had this opportunity, even if it was at random, and she could, possibly, use it to get out of this hole.

------

Two days later, Josh returned from Connecticut after his father's funeral. He brought Liz greetings from his mother, Sara, which itself was weird. Liz was nowhere near thinking of Josh as any kind of father figure, and Josh's mom greeting her was weird, because it seemed so grandmotherly.

He grinned when he saw her, which made her wonder, for the umpteenth time, how she should act around this man who had just lost his father. "You ok?" she asked him quietly when she couldn't come up with anything else to say.

He nodded. "Yeah, I'll be ok. Kinda knew it was coming." He paused, looking somewhat uncomfortable, and then added "I don't really want to talk about it."

Liz nodded. "Yeah, ok. That's cool." She shook her head. This was going to be harder than it looked.

Josh suddenly smiled wryly. "I'll be keeping busy. We just got nailed a nomination."

"Yup," Liz agreed. "We gonna kick some butt on Super Tuesday?"

He gave her an amused look. "You bet." Long pause. "A few days away finally start giving you some enthusiasm?" Liz blushed, and Josh decided not to press her sudden perkiness any further.

"So, what happens then?"

Josh grinned, yet again. "We bring out the big guns."

------

A/N: I realize I may have some of the dates in Chapter 1 off, but humor me. Obviously, this is a little AU. The next chapter is going to skip to the convention. I'll try to update more often.

-Crazileigh


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